Blue: now available on the App Store for iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch (Photo: PlaceIt)

Today we are excited to announce the launch of our first iOS app: Blue.

Blue provides 36-hour weather forecasts relevant to your location in a fast and fun interface. Swipe up to see each hour represented in a beautiful, colorful gradient visual: whether you’re in Fiji, or simply at work.

The unique hourly colors are generated based on three variables: temperature, humidity, and sunrise/sunset times for your current location. Temperatures are shown in either Fahrenheit or Celsius (controlled by your iOS region settings), and icons provided by Symbolset (a new set soon to be released) help reinforce the weather conditions.

From cold to hot, Blue represents weather forecasts with color

The app was inspired by a weather widget we had previously made for ACORN, our internal status board. We quickly found how well color can describe weather, much more than just a number. After using it for just a few days you’ll start to learn what the colors mean, and know exactly what kind of coat to wear when you see green.

Translating our widget to iOS, we experimented with layout, content, typography, and color. We realized fairly early on that we wanted the app to be dead simple, in order to keep the app uncomplicated and easy to use. The design rounded into form by building prototypes and interacting with them full-size on mobile devices and then adjusting variables based on those interactions. This tight feedback loop allowed us to hone the core interactions, layout, typography, and colors into a polished product.

If you haven’t already, head over to the App Store now and get Blue for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch (search for “Blue Weather”). It is available for only $0.99 for a limited time.

Be sure to follow @partlyblue on Twitter for updates, and visit partlyblue.com to see the app in action. We hope you enjoy using Blue as much as we’ve enjoyed making it!

Recent posts

Today we say bye to our Product Design Intern: Ye Heon Shin. Ye is off to conquer the world as Product Designer at MeetUp.

Before joining Oak, Ye had never had a La Croix, and now it flows in his veins. Ye joined the team this summer after graduating from NYU, where he was on the pre-law track before the design train hit him. Ye has been responsible for some of the spiciest design elements for Dropmark’s refresh (which will hopefully be hitting your screens soon).

TL;DR We spent $200 advertising the Dropmark iOS launch on each major social network and all we got were these stats.

When we launched Dropmark for iOS, we wanted to get it onto as many Apple devices as possible. We had explored social media advertising in the past, but we wanted to run a more scientific experiment this time around. Consider this blog post our report.

Sometimes the best way to reflect is to let the figures speak for themselves. For a small team, we think we’re punching above our weight — from our LaCroix consumption to our code commits. So, for all the number lovers out there, here is how our 2017 stacked up: